The Philosophy

I am a North Carolina visual artist working in constructed fine art photography and abstract mixed media. I am fascinated by the moment when something familiar becomes something I have never seen before. In my studio, I build small worlds from water, light, color, feathers, seed heads, reflections and other ordinary materials. Sometimes I find myself literally holding my breath as I wait for everything to come together. A drop falls, light catches it, and for a fraction of a second something exists that did not exist before and will not exist again in quite the same way.

Smoke asks something different of me. I can create the conditions, shape the light and watch, but I cannot decide what it will become. Figures and forms emerge and disappear, and what I see within them may be completely different from what someone else sees. That mystery is part of what fascinates me. There are photographs that still make me stop when I see them. Sometimes it takes me a while to understand what I have captured because I am still caught in the wonder of it myself.

Those are the images I am most protective of. When a photograph takes my breath away, I don’t want processing to take away the very thing that made me feel that way. I prefer to create as much as possible in camera, on set and in the studio, using light, color, composition and physical materials rather than constructing the image afterward. My processing is intentionally restrained because I want the final work to remain true to the moment that created it. When I intentionally step beyond that approach simply to experiment or have a little fun, I believe in being transparent about it.

Perhaps that is what I am always searching for, whether I am working inches away from a tiny constructed scene or looking into the enormity of the night sky. 

I want to experience that moment of awe, and if I am fortunate, create something that allows someone else to feel it too.

Living with disabilities has shaped both how and why I create. I don’t work according to a conventional schedule. I work with my body, taking advantage of the days and moments when I am able and stepping away when I am not. A good day can change quickly, so I have learned not to take creative time for granted.

It took me a long time to arrive here. Art became more than something I loved making. It became a place I could go when my physical world had grown smaller, something that could still give me curiosity, purpose and a sense of possibility. On difficult days, I may only be able to sit with a camera and construct a tiny scene, work quietly on a painting, or experiment with a piece of copper. Sometimes that is enough to change the direction of the day.

For me, resilience isn’t about denying the difficult days.  It’s about continuing to look for what is still possible within them. I have always tried to hold onto that perspective… to look for something beautiful, something interesting, or simply a reason to keep creating.

That instinct to keep moving forward has inevitably found its way into my work. I am drawn to transformation, impermanence and the beauty of things that refuse to remain still. Photography taught me to slow down and witness rather than simply see. In my constructed macro work, I build small environments using water, light, reflection, natural materials and ordinary objects.  I witness what emerges in the studio and preserve that spectacular fleeting moment through the camera.

My mixed media work carries that same fascination into something tactile. Copper, patina, texture, mesh, fiber and layered surfaces allow me to explore weathering, imperfection and the passage of time through material rather than through a lens. I am especially interested in what happens when materials are allowed to participate in the process rather than being completely controlled.

Although the mediums are different, the work comes from the same place:

“The extraordinary within the familiar.”

Control is an illusion. 

Intention is not. 

None of us can predict what the day will bring. My creative practice is a commitment to discovering and shaping what is possible in the present moment.